Organizations are looking for a well-qualified workforce with the requisite skills, knowledge, and abilities to implement an effective cyber strategy. Academic institutions are facing challenges in meeting the demand for employees with hands-on experience. This exploratory study investigated how academic institutions can use internships to equip entry-level cybersecurity talent with the needed industry experience to join the cybersecurity workforce. The study examined available literature on entry-level cybersecurity workforce development, hands-on cybersecurity experience, cybersecurity models and frameworks, and curriculum development to provide a foundation for the methodology. The study focused on answering two research questions, "how should educational institutions develop cybersecurity curricula to include internships that align with industry experience requirements?" and "how much hands-on work experience should employers require from new entrants into the cybersecurity workforce?" Using the constructivist grounded theory approach, professionals with hiring experience for entry-level cybersecurity roles and faculty in select higher education institutions with experience developing or maintaining cybersecurity curricula for undergraduate programs were interviewed. Participants collective responses formed the basis for recommendations to improve how internships are used to develop work experience and for future research on the subject matter. The findings underscored the importance of using internships to build work experiences for new entrants into the cybersecurity workforce. The recommendations reflect ways in which academia can incorporate internships into cybersecurity curricula. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]